Milford Education Foundation a great asset to city

Last April a new education group, the Milford Education Foundation, rolled onto the scene, and in that short time has made its presence known in Milford.

As the group was forming, organizers explained that a thriving education system is crucial to a community’s quality of life. While there was already a strong PTA presence in the schools, organizers believed the education foundation could take educational issues a step forward and in a different direction than PTAs generally do.

This group has certainly done that.

An education foundation is an organization make up of concerned citizens who want to raise funds for programming and promote education in their community, according to literature the group provided. Education foundations can be found in other communities, and in fact, there had been talk about forming one here years ago.

In the short time that the Milford Education Foundation has been active here, it has done a lot for Milford.

The foundation recently awarded more than $5,000 in grants to Milford public school teachers. The nine grants will be used for projects and programs in the upcoming months for students in grades K-12.

The Milford Education Foundation also is behind the first citywide Milford Invention Convention, which it is running in association with the Connecticut Invention Convention on Saturday, April 5. Several workshops have already taken place to get local children ready for the event.

The Milford Invention Convention is open to kindergarten through grade eight students and is designed to develop and enhance critical thinking skills through invention, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Finalists have the opportunity to advance to the 31st annual Connecticut Invention Convention, which brings hundreds of young inventors from across the state together to present at the University of Connecticut. Previous finalists have had their inventions patented, displayed at the Connecticut Science Center, and featured in New York Times articles and on national television.

This is a wonderful opportunity for Milford students.

The foundation held its first Mini-Golf Classic at The Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton in October, and attendance showed just how popular this group has become. No doubt the foundation’s mission speaks for itself. The sold-out event was attended by 150 golfers, over 20 volunteers and many spectators, raising money to push the foundation’s cause to promote education.

And that’s not all. This group keeps going. A program called Minds in Motion: Fun for Students will take place Saturday, March 15, at Jonathan Law High School.

Minds in Motion is an afternoon of workshops designed to engage students with hands-on, fast-paced, interactive, high-interest workshops on topics not available in the traditional classroom.

In addition, parents can attend special-interest workshops on topics related to raising high-potential children, interact with vendors, receive free literature, and interact with other parents, all for free.

Again, this sounds like a great opportunity for Milford students to expand their minds and explore their potential.